Today, I went looking for Hope.

Not in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense. I was driving back from dropping of some paper work in a town about an hour away when I saw this sign.

I didn’t have a lot on my plate today, so I headed off to find Hope. I was curious as to what I would find.

Shortly after passing the sign, I saw a neighborhood called “Hopelands” with big houses. But I never came to a town called Hope. I know this because the next town I came to was not Hope, but Ingleside- and I went back and looked on Google Maps to see if I might have missed a turn, but I didn’t. The road to Hope, seemingly didn’t lead to Hope.

As Christians, we profess our hope in Jesus who not only saves us from our sins, but is redeeming our world-making it whole again. Some of that is happening now, and this hope will be fully realized when Jesus returns.

What does the world see when they see us Christians? Or when they see the church? We talk a good game about Hope- but are we showing people where they can find it? Are we taking part in God’s redemptive work here on earth? Or are we content to remain in our holy huddle and not go into the world?

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” In a dark world where so many people are looking for Hope (whether they realize it or not), we are called to take our light into the world. We are called to be used by God to push back the night. We have a mission to lead people to Hope- a hope that is found in the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Where has someone shown you hope when you needed it the most? How is God using you right now to bring the Hope of Jesus into the world?